


At the Reception

by benjji2795



Series: Jonnor AUs [3]
Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: Drunk Kissing, Just Friends, M/M, Wedding Reception
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-11 12:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4436273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjji2795/pseuds/benjji2795
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mariana insists that Jude brings a plus one to her wedding, and Jude turns to Connor, asking him to come along.  But what happens when alcohol at the reception mixes with a long-hidden feelings and a fall?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

“Hey um, so Connor?” Jude asked awkwardly as they sat in the living room of their shared apartment one evening.

 

“Yeah Jude?” Connor responded, not even breaking his gaze from the TV to look at Jude.

 

“So you know that my sister Mariana is getting married this weekend, right?” Jude said nervously.

 

“Yeah…” Connor replied slowly.  Jude’s hesitation combined with Mariana’s history with the two of them told Connor that he knew where this was going.

 

“So um, Mariana keeps insisting that I bring someone with me to the wedding, even if it’s just you, and uh, I don’t have anyone else to ask.” Jude explained quickly.

 

“So you want me to come is what you’re saying.”  Connor said, groaning.  So this was just another one of Mariana’s schemes to set them up.

 

“Yes.  Pleeeeeeeeease Connor?” Jude whined.  He did not want to face Mariana if he showed up to her wedding alone.  He wasn’t exactly sure why she was so insistent he bring someone, though he suspected she was trying to set the two of them up.  Again.  Jude had long ago asked Mariana to stop meddling with their relationship (they were just really close friends for heaven’s sake), but given that it _was_ her wedding day, Jude figured it was probably best just to play along this time.  Connor sighed, trying his best to ignore Jude’s begging puppy dog eyes. Mariana wasn't _his_ sister, he didn't have to play along. But Jude kept looking at him, silently begging him, and Connor was losing his resolve to say no.

 

“Jude do I—“

 

“Please?”

 

“Alright fine Jude.  But I’m only doing this because I don’t want Mariana to bitch you out, got it?”  Connor said resignedly.

 

 

“What am I even supposed to wear?” Connor shouted out of his bedroom that Saturday.  They were supposed to be leaving for the wedding in twenty minutes and Connor swore that nothing in his closet looked good enough to wear.

 

“Seriously Connor, there are like at least ten outfits in your closet that you could wear!” Jude yelled back, trying not to laugh.

 

“Yeah, but your family has seen all of them.”  Connor protested.

 

“Oh my god Connor, when did you become so gay?” Jude said, cackling as he walked into Connor’s room to help him pick an outfit.

 

“Wow okay stereotypes Jude.” Connor retorted, too absorbed by his wardrobe dilemma to find Jude funny right now.

 

“Look Connor I’ve got an idea, why don’t you wear all black, and then you can borrow one of my bow ties.  That’s a little bit different from what you normally wear.” Jude suggested.

 

“Bow ties?  And you have the nerve to say that I’m the super gay one.”

 

“Oh just shut up Connor and go pick one.”  Jude said, shoving Connor towards the door and rifling through his closet for a black button up, tossing it to Connor when he came back in clutching a blue bow tie.  “I like the color choice, now quick put this shirt on so I can tie it for you.”  He tried to avert his eyes as Connor took off his shirt to change into the other one, he really did, but he failed, eyes landing on Connor’s well-defined chest muscles and abs.  His best friend had a body to die for, there was nothing wrong with appreciating that beauty, Jude reasoned.  Though these glances we’re turning less into appreciation and more into—well Jude didn’t really want to think about what kind of looks they were now.  Once Connor had buttoned up his shirt, Jude stepped forward, throwing the tie around Connor’s neck so he could tie it, shaking his head to try and clear his thoughts.  Being a couple inches from Connor’s lips was not where Jude wanted to be at the moment.  Jude kept his eyes on the tie; ignoring the hot breath that Connor was blowing on all over his face, and making him shiver.

 

“All set!” he declared, pulling away from Connor as fast as he could once he finished tying the bow tie and heading for the car.  “Now come on Connor, we’re going to be late!”

 

 

“Hey Jude!” Mariana exclaimed as Jude stepped into her dressing room just a few minutes before the wedding.

 

“Congratulations Mariana, I’m so happy for you!” Jude exclaimed, walking over to give Mariana a hug.

 

“So Jude, did you bring someone with you like I asked?” She said, eyeing him suspiciously.

 

“Yes Mariana, I did.  Not sure why it was such a big deal but whatever.” Jude replied, playing dumb to see if he could get Mariana to admit her plan.

 

“Because it is, okay?  Did you bring Connor?”

 

“Do you seriously think I had anyone else to ask?”

 

“Well maybe if you didn’t hang out with Connor all the time, you would have someone else to ask.  Unless…”

 

“No Mariana, can you just leave it?” Jude groaned.  Now he was 100% certain she was trying to set them up.

 

“Not really, but the ceremony is starting soon so you need to get going.  See you after!” Mariana sang, pushing Jude out the door.  Jude walked out into the hall, plopping down next to Connor.

 

“So the whole plus one requirement was just Mariana trying to set us up again.” Jude commented.

 

“I guessed.” Connor said, laughing that Jude seriously thought she had some other motive in mind.  “You know, we could just—“

 

“You are not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, are you Connor?” Jude said, glaring at him.  Connor just shrugged.  He wasn’t opposed to the idea of dating Jude, in fact he had even asked Jude out on several occasions.  Jude had always turned him down though, adamant that their friendship was too important to him to risk by dating each other.  So Connor had let it go, deciding to wait for Jude and always feeling unsatisfied with the way things were between them.  If Connor was being completely honest, secretly he was thankful for Mariana’s schemes to try and bring them together.  Jude sighed.  “We need to get boyfriends, just to get her off our backs.”

 

“Yeah, sure.” Connor agreed quietly, even though really, he didn’t agree with Jude.

 

 

The wedding was beautiful (Jude cried more than a few times; his big sister was now married!), and now they had moved on to the reception and Jude was having a blast.  He’d had more than a few drinks and was out on the in the middle of the dance floor, wriggling and staggering around, trying to dance, causing all those around him to laugh hysterically, especially Connor who was dancing right next to him, equally as drunk.  The music changed, a slow song starting to play and Jude and Connor began stumbling off to take a seat, since they weren’t going to be slow dancing with each other.  Jude tripped, falling down on the floor, and tripping Connor, who was following right close behind him, who landed right on top of him.

 

“Oh um, hi.” Jude said, giggling at his own clumsiness, and at the obviously suggestive manner in which they seemed to be lying on top of each other.

 

“Hi.” Connor breathed out, his face just inches away from Jude’s.  Jude’s giggling subsided, leaving the two of them just staring at each other, their faces so close they were almost touching.  “I um—“ Connor began before being cut-off by Jude kissing him.  The kiss was sloppy, fueled by alcohol, Jude’s (now not-so) secret attraction to Connor, and Connor’s years of yearning for more between them, as Jude began tangling his hands into Connor’s hair.

 

“Wow could you two get a room?!” Mariana exclaimed as she walked past the two boys passionately making out on the floor, sniggering as she did and doing her best not to fist pump right in front of them.  Jude quickly pulled his head back (so fast in fact that he smacked his head against the floor), shoving Connor off of him before tottering out of the hall into night.

 

 

“It’s about time!” Jesus shouted, smacking Connor on the back as he walked past.  Ever since Jude had walked out of the reception, everyone had been congratulating Connor on the two of them _finally_ getting together.  Not that they were actually together, they had just drunk kissed, that was all.  Twenty minutes later and Jude still hadn’t come back into the hall, so Connor began slowly making his way outside, hoping that Jude hadn’t gone far.  He barely had to go out of the door, finding Jude leaning up against one of the windows outside the hall, hands buried in his pockets as he stared at his shoes.

 

“So, you just gonna stand out here the rest of the party?” Connor slurred, leaning up against the window next to Jude.

 

“No.  Just tryin’ to decide what I wanna do next.  Now that I’ve kissed you my family isn’t going to let it go.” Jude said slowly.

 

“Yeah.  I’ve been getting congratulations from everyone since you stalked out.” Connor replied.  Jude just groaned.

 

“So’s I’m guessin’ that maybe we should go on a date then.” Jude mumbled, resigned to that being his best option here.  His family wouldn’t take _we just drunk kissed_ very well and he was not in the mood for dealing with that.  So he and Connor would go on a couple dates then, claim that things weren’t working out and then go back to the way it was before.  Right?

 

“Sure thing Jude.” Connor said, grinning widely, not able to hide his pleasure at the fact that he was actually going to be going on a date with Jude.  “How about tomorrow?”

 

“With the hangovers we’re gonna have, I don’t think so Connor.” Jude replied, giggling.

 

“Oh.” Connor answered, scrunching up his face in concentration.  “How ‘bout Monday then?”

 

“Sure, it’s a date.” Jude said, patting Connor on the back and throwing his arm around his shoulders for support.  “Now let’s go back in.”


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so when I started this I had originally planned for it to be only two parts but then I started writing and lo and behold, it looks like I'll need at least a third and fourth part, so lucky you (be thankful I couldn't resist the angst).

They made it back into the reception, but not without great difficulty; Jude was leaning on Connor for support even though Connor was just and drunk and not much help.

 

“Hey look!  It’s the two lovebirds!” Jesus shouted, pointing at them as soon as they came into sight.  Jude groaned, of course Jesus would do that.

 

“Damn, by the way your family is reacting, you’d think this suddenly became our wedding and not Mariana’s.” Connor whispered into Jude’s ear, giggling.  Jude snorted.

 

“Trust me, if Mariana thought she could get away with it.” Jude commented which only made Connor laugh harder.

 

“So, when’s the big day?  Your first date.” Mariana asked smugly, approaching them from seemingly out of nowhere.

 

“Monday!” Connor exclaimed before Jude could throw some sarcastic remark at his sister (which Connor knew he would).

 

“Connor!  You weren’t supposed to tell them that.  Now they’re going to be all over me until then!” Jude groaned.

 

“Damn right we are!” his moms shouted.  At that, Jude clumsily spun around and began walking back towards the door, dragging Connor with him.

 

“We are leaving, I can’t handle this from them right now.” Jude slurred.

 

“But babe, we drove here.” Connor replied.

 

“Since when am I ‘babe’, Connor?” Jude answered, annoyed.

 

“Since we’re dating, duh.”  Connor said pointedly.

 

“Look Connor here’s how it’s going to go,” Jude said sharply, turning to face Connor.  “We’re going to go on like two or three dates to shut my family up, and then we’ll claim it isn’t working and things between us go back to normal.  We are not _dating_ , got it?”

 

“Yeah, I got it.” Connor said quietly, slumping his shoulders and dropping his head to look at his feet, disappointed that Jude only asked him on a date to shut his family up.  He should’ve known better than to get his hopes up when Jude first asked that it could mean anything more, but he did and now he just wanted to cry.  And he couldn’t cry in front of Jude, he couldn’t explain why.

 

“So, we need to call a taxi I think.” Jude pointed out, no longer sounding so annoyed or angry.

 

“Yeah, probably.” Connor sniffled.

 

“You alright?” Jude asked, noticing Connor’s change in tone.

 

“Just not feeling well is all.” Connor lied.

 

“You’re not gonna like throw up or anything, right?  I don’t want to pay to get some guy’s car cleaned.” Jude replied, laughing softly

 

“No, I’ll be fine.  Just want to get home.”

 

“Won’t be long now.” Jude said, gently rubbing Connor’s back.  Not that Connor wanted Jude touching him right now, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away.  Their ride pulled up, and they climbed in, spending the fifteen minute ride in silence.

 

“See you in the morning.” Connor mumbled to Jude as they walked into the apartment, Connor heading straight for his bedroom, closing the door and curling up into a ball on the floor, feeling too overwhelmed by the wave of sadness that was hitting him to make it to his bed.

 

 

Jude awoke the next day to a massive hangover.  Squinting at his night stand, he noticed two painkillers, a glass of water and a folded-up piece of paper (seeing anything on his night stand other than his phone was unusual; Jude was anal about keeping it clean).  But today he didn’t mind, because it meant he didn’t have to get out of bed to find something to stop his headache.  Ignoring the note, Jude took the painkillers and shoved them in his mouth, getting a big gulp of water and swallowing them.  He laid there for another half hour, not moving and waiting for the dull throbbing in his head to subside.

 

When it finally did, he lazily reached over, snatching up the paper and unfolding it, and reading what it said.

 

_Jude,_

_Left you this note in case you were too drunk to remember but Connor did.  You kissed Connor at the reception and now you’re both going on a date tomorrow (blame your family and alcohol)._

_Jude_

_(P.S. the family knows; you’re not getting out of it)_

 

Jude groaned.  He didn’t need the note, he remembered last night as clear as day, and he was loathing himself for getting that drunk and doing something as stupid as kissing Connor in front of his family (Jude didn’t care so much about kissing Connor; what mattered was that everyone saw).  He stumbled out of bed and headed to the kitchen to get breakfast, not looking forward to the awkwardness that would be hanging over the two of them the rest of the day.  Not surprisingly, Connor wasn’t up yet, as his bedroom door was still closed.  He never handled hangovers well, often trying to stay locked in his room all day, and Jude usually had to force him out of bed.  Jude sighed, it was almost noon and Connor needed to get up, so he walked over Connor’s door instead of the kitchen and knocked gently.

 

“Connor, you are not locking yourself in there all day.  Get up.” Jude said firmly through the door.

 

“Go away,” was the muffled reply from Connor, which wasn’t unexpected.  What was unexpected was that Connor’s voice sounded rough, hoarse almost like he’d been—crying all night?

 

“Connor,” Jude said, opening the door slowly.  “What’s going on?”

 

“I said go away!” Connor shouted.  Jude stepped in the room, examining Connor who was still lying on the floor.

 

“Why are you on the floor Connor?”

 

“It’s none of your business.” Connor snapped.

 

“Connor, you mind telling me what’s wrong?  Why are you acting so angry towards me?” Jude asked, confused by Connor’s behavior.

 

“Forget it.” Connor mumbled, standing up and walking past Jude into the kitchen, beginning to make some coffee.

 

“I’m not going to ‘forget it’.  You’re obviously not okay.  You need to talk to me!” Jude called, following Connor out.

 

“As if you actually care about my feelings.” Connor snorted into the empty mug he was holding.

 

“What the hell are you talking about?  Of course I care about your feelings.” Jude retorted, suddenly catching sight of Connor’s splotchy cheeks and blood-shot eyes as Connor turned to face him.  He had definitely been crying some time during the night.

 

“Didn’t seem like it last night.”

 

“What about last night?  What did I do?” Jude asked quietly, now genuinely confused.  He wondered if he did something to Connor that the alcohol had made him forget.

 

“You kissed me,” Connor stated.

 

“Well I remember that much.” He said sassily, unable to hold back his sarcasm.  “But why are you upset about that?”

 

“Because after, you asked me on a date and then told me you were only doing it because of your family!  It felt like you were rejecting me, like there’s something wrong with dating me and that hurt!” Connor yelled.

 

“It’s—it’s not that I don’t want to date you Connor, it’s just—I’m scared of losing you okay?  You’re my best friend and you—you mean everything to me and if we didn’t work out and we stopped being—well best friends, I don’t know what I’d do.” Jude spoke softly, starting to cry.

 

“J-Jude I’m sorry.” Connor said, setting down the mug and moving over to Jude to give him a hug.  “I don’t want to lose you either.  And I know you think that you're going to lose me if we date, but I feel like I'm going to lose you if we don’t.  I guess I like you way more than I should, and losing you to another guy would just—it would just hurt more than any other way I might lose you,” he admitted, feeling like he was going to start crying too.

 

“I’m the one that should be sorry.  I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.” Jude muttered, hugging Connor back tightly.

 

“I’ll be okay I guess.  But Jude, we can’t keep tip-toeing around each other, pretending to be happy with the way things are when we’re both actually terrified of losing the other.  Now that we’ve put it out there, we have to do something,” Connor sighed.

 

“What can we do that doesn’t risk everything we have between us though?” Jude inquired.  Connor rested his chin on Jude’s shoulder and leant his head against Jude’s, letting out a long breath.

 

“That’s the problem.  I don’t think there is anything we can do that doesn’t involve that.” Connor stated.

 

“Connor-" Jude whimpered anxiously.  Connor pulled away, grabbing Jude by the shoulders and looking him in the eye.

 

“Let’s just try.  Two dates, that’s all I’m asking.  Then we go from there.” Connor said as they locked eyes.

 

_As frightening as the idea was_ , Jude thought, _Connor was right_.  They couldn’t just pretend things were the same as before, not now.  Jude had thought that after the kiss they could still get back to normal, but now this conversation eliminated all hope of that.  Now, if he didn’t want to lose Connor, he—they had to do this.

 

“Okay.” Jude whispered.

 

“Be ready to go tomorrow at 7:00,” Connor replied, letting go of Jude and walking back into his bedroom.

 

This was either the beginning or the end, and Jude wasn’t sure which way the wheel would spin.  Tomorrow.  Tomorrow he would know.


	3. Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got tired of writing dramatic "will they/won't they" stuff so I decided to make the rest of this cute. Hope you don't mind :)

Connor closed the door to his room behind him and began to pace around nervously.  Two dates; that was all he had to sweep Jude off his feet. He had to plan the two most perfect dates that the world had ever seen or else this was all going to fall apart. So Connor did the only logical thing he could think of, picking up the phone and dialing Mariana.

 

“Mariana?” he said nervously when she picked up.

 

“Something you need, Connor?” She asked smugly.

 

“Look, I know it’s your honeymoon and all but I need your help to plan the perfect date.” Connor explained, pulling the phone away from his ear so Mariana’s squeal wouldn’t burst his ear drums.

 

“Wait, wait okay, so tell me what you had in mind first.  I need to get a feel for what Jude would be expecting from you so whatever you do still feels like your idea.” Mariana chattered away excitedly.

 

“Um,” Connor said biting his lip, “I was thinking that we would go out for a nice dinner and then uh, we would go to this arcade place I know.  It’s called Kokomo’s (A/N: that’s an actual place by where I live and it’s exactly what I’m basing this arcade place in the story off of) and they have mini-golf and go-karts and lazer tag and lots of arcade games and I don’t know, I thought Jude might like that.”

 

“Okay Connor, so why the hell did you call me then?  Sounds like you already have the perfect date in mind.” Mariana chided.

 

“I-I do?” Connor stuttered.

 

“Yes Connor, you do, so just go with it.” she answered sharply.

 

“Wait what about after that?” Connor asked.

 

“What do you mean, ‘after that’ Connor?”  Oh, right he didn’t explain to Mariana what they were doing.

 

“Well,” Connor said, drawing out the first word.  “We’re doing like a, I don’t know, ‘trial dating’ thing.  We’re going on two dates, and after that, I don’t know. That’s why this date is so important,” he explained.  Connor couldn’t see her, but he swore that he could sense that she rolled her eyes.

 

“You’re going to knock it out of the park, you know, since you both are obviously madly in love with each other. There’s no way this could go wrong!” Mariana exclaimed.  “God, if you two weren’t both so freaking scared you’d already be married by now.”

 

“You still haven’t answered my question about the second date.” Connor sighed, ignoring her comment.

 

“Follow your instincts,” she replied, hanging up.  Connor stared at his phone for a moment.  He had expected Mariana to be more helpful.  But then again he did call her while she was on her honeymoon, so he supposed that she probably didn’t want to talk to him.  But anyway, their call meant that Connor felt pretty set on what their first date was going to be (for the most part; he just needed to pick a restaurant), and he was getting more nervous by the second.

 

 

Jude stood in front of the mirror, nervously fixing his hair.  He and Connor had known each other for four years and they were just now going on their first date.  He had almost a full two days to warm up to the idea, but “warming up” to it meant that he was now fully terrified that he was going to mess up the whole date.

 

He examined his outfit again. Connor had told him to wear something “casual, but also sort of dressy” to use his words, so Jude had chosen green skinny jeans (green being Connor’s favorite color), a blue button-up (foregoing his usual bow tie since Connor did say casual and choosing blue because it was Jude’s favorite color), and black converse shoes. Or at least that’s what he was wearing now.  Since he started getting ready at 5:00 (yes he started getting ready two hours early), he had changed at least six different times, deciding that nothing he had tried on to that point looked good.  He was thinking though that the combination of their two favorite colors in his outfit seemed to be working quite well, so he went back to fussing with his hair.

 

“Hey Jude?” Connor said, gently knocking on the door.

 

“Come in.” Jude murmured, not taking his eyes off the mirror.  Connor opened the door, stepping in and feeling his breath catch in his throat as he looked at Jude.  Normally he didn’t think about Jude like this, trying his best to keep from stepping over the line of “best friend”, but tonight they were going on a date and so he finally let himself _really_ look, taking in just how stunning Jude looked.

 

“I—wow—you look—just wow you look amazing Jude.” Connor stuttered nervously, his cheeks turning red.

 

“I um—thanks.” Jude replied quietly, swiveling around to look at Connor.  He was also wearing skinny jeans like Jude, however he had opted for classic black, wearing a form-fitting green and blue plaid shirt to go with it.  Jude couldn’t help but stare at how the shirt tightly hugged his chest and arms, showing off just how buff Connor was.  But what Jude really noticed was Connor’s nails.  Stepping over to Connor, he grabbed his hand, lifting it up and examining it closely.

 

“Do you like them?” Connor asked anxiously.  He had expertly (or so it appeared to Jude) painted his nails a dark shade of blue, a shade that very closely matched Jude’s favorite shade of blue.  Jude had painted his nails a few times around the time they first met, and that was one of the things that had gotten Connor’s attention about him, which was why on the night of their first date, Connor had painted his.

 

“Yeah.” Jude said softly, also thinking back to when they first met and became friends, not releasing Connor’s hand and instead entwining their fingers.  If they were going to be doing this ‘trial dating’ thing, he had decided that he was going to totally commit to it.  Jude felt his stomach flip at how—just how right it felt to be holding Connor’s hand.  He looked up at Connor who, despite still blushing hard, was beaming at him. Drawing close to Connor’s side, Jude turned and let Connor lead him out the door and on their date.

 

“So what do you have planned?” Jude asked as they walked to Connor’s car, carefully avoiding the numerous puddles on the ground as a result of the gentle rain that had been falling all day.

 

“I’m not telling you yet.” Connor answered grinning, trying to follow Jude’s path through the parking lot without dropping his hand.

 

“Awww, that’s no fun!” Jude protested.

 

“Are you kidding? It’s plenty fun for me.” Connor said with a giggle.

 

“You’re a meanie.” Jude muttered, playfully ramming into Connor with his shoulder. He must have shoved him just a little bit too hard though, because Connor stumbled, and in trying to regain his balance, threw his arms out in front of him, jerking Jude forward. If they hadn’t been holding hands, Jude would’ve fallen face first on the pavement, but instead he was spun around by the force of Connor’s pull, landing on his back in a huge puddle and yanking Connor down on top of him.  They were lying on top of each other in almost exactly the position they were in at the reception.

 

“You know, this is exactly how we ended up doing this in the first place.” Connor commented, breathless from laughter.  Jude glared at Connor for a moment before bursting into laughter as well.

 

“Maybe this is a good sign.” Jude said, slicking back his hair which had flopped down onto his forehead from the water that had splashed on him.

 

“We fell into a puddle, we’re both now sopping wet and we’re going miss dinner reservations because we have to change.  How is this a good sign?” Connor asked curiously.

 

“Well I mean we’re starting our first date the way it all started in the first place. Maybe that’s a sign that its fate.” Jude shrugged, pushing Connor off of him and standing up, offering Connor his hand to help him up.

 

“I don’t follow your logic Jude.” Connor said, taking Jude’s hand and rising, brushing himself off.

 

“You don’t have to as long as I do,” Jude answered smiling, gripping Connor’s hand and leading him back towards the apartment.  “Come on, let’s get changed.  We’re going to miss dinner but that doesn’t mean we can’t do whatever you had planned after.” Connor was confused. They hadn’t even made it to the car and the date was already a disaster, but Jude didn’t seem fazed one bit. In fact it almost seemed as if he was enjoying it!  That made no sense, but Connor decided not to question it and just play along. If Jude was enjoying things, far be it from him to stop Jude.

 

 

Twenty minutes later, the two reappeared in the parking lot, having changed into dry clothes. They were both still wearing skinny jeans, but otherwise they were wearing t-shirts and tennis shoes.

 

“So what were we going to do after dinner?” Jude asked as they weaved their way out to the car.   Connor looked at him, and Jude could tell from his face that he was debating whether it was a good idea not to tell him again. “I’m not gonna shove you this time if you don’t answer, dork!  I don’t want to get wet again.” Jude assured Connor, chortling.  Connor swallowed; he was getting nervous that Jude was going to think that his plan was stupid, since everything seemed to be going _just great_ so far. The dinner was supposed to be there to make up for it if Jude didn’t like the idea of going to the arcade, but now that was all Connor had left.

 

“I uh—there’s this erm, arcade place I know of.  They’ve got like, go-karts and mini-golf and stuff and well, I just um, thought that might be fun to do for an evening.” Connor said, describing his plan apprehensively.

 

“Wait, I think I know where you’re talking about!” Jude exclaimed.  Connor braced himself for Jude to say something bad about it, but he didn’t, instead hopping around like an excited puppy and shouting: “I’ve always wanted to go there but I’ve never been able to!”

 

“Wait, so you don’t think it’s a stupid idea?” Connor asked sheepishly.  Connor had already pretty much convinced himself that it was definitely a dumb idea.

 

“No! Of course not!” Jude affirmed.  “Come on, let’s go!” he shouted, taking off and yanking Connor along behind him.

 

 

“You sure you really like this?  Cause if you don’t we can always—“ Connor started when they pulled in Kokomo’s.  Connor didn’t get to finish because as soon as the car was in park, Jude was jumping out of the door, running around to open Connor’s door and pull him along inside.  “Well someone’s an eager beaver.” Connor commented, giggling at Jude.

 

“Who even says that anymore?” Jude replied.  “Like, ‘hello the 1980’s called; it wants its saying back’.”

 

“I am deeply offended Jude.” Connor said sarcastically.

 

“Yeah, you’ll get over it.” Jude teased.

 

“So what can I get for you two?  I’ve got a great for unlimited passes for all of our attractions plus a good bit of tokens for the arcade.” a woman about their age behind the counter said, interrupting their banter.

 

“Yeah, I think that sounds good.  I’ll take one for each of us.” Connor said, grabbing a putter from the stand next to the counter as he handed the cashier some money.  “Come on, let’s mini-golf first!” he exclaimed.

 

“Okay, but only because it’s the only sport I can actually kick your ass in!” Jude shouted, grabbing a putter of his own and running after Connor.

 

“I doubt it.” Connor commented, earning a shove from Jude.  Connor put his golf ball down on the “tee”, setting up and taking the putter in his hands with a baseball grip (A/N: that doesn’t mean he’s holding it like a baseball bat, it just means that he doesn’t interlock any of his fingers when he grips it; look up golf grips if you’re still confused), drawing the putter back and giving the ball a good hard smack.  The ball hit a stump placed on the edge of the “fairway”, rocketing up and flying off the course into the river that wound around all the mini-golf holes. Jude doubled over, laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe, while Connor just stood there mortified, his face turning a deep shade of pink.

 

“I’m no expert, but I don’t think you were supposed to do that.” Jude gasped when he finally stopped laughing, walking up and placing a hand on Connor’s shoulder. “Now let me show you how it’s done.” he continued, pushing Connor out of the way and placing his ball. Jude took his stance over the ball, setting up to hit his putt.  With a gentle rocking motion, he swung the putter back and then through the ball, sending it rolling smoothly on its way, straight on line, before it dropped in the cup a few seconds later.

 

“And that, my friend, is how you do it.” Jude said smugly, dropping his putter like it was a mic, earning a gentle shove from Connor.  “Hey, cheer up, I saw there were also batting cages.” he added, swinging his arm around Connor’s shoulders and giving him a kiss on the cheek.  “I know you’re going to kick my ass there.” Connor didn’t respond, save for his face turning a few shades darker from the kiss that Jude gave him. “Go get another golf ball so we can actually finish.” Jude finished, gently pushing Connor back towards the counter where they kept the golf balls.

 

“Lost one already?” the woman sniggered.  “Hey, let me just tell you that you are definitely not the first.  But your friend over there, he looks pretty good.” she continued with a flirty tone, obviously not talking about Jude’s golfing skills.

 

“Who, you mean my date?” Connor asked, trying not to laugh, as he watched the woman’s face fall. He turned and walked back over to Jude, cackling as soon as he was out of earshot.

 

“What’s so funny?” Jude wondered, cocking his head to the side.

 

“I think the woman at the counter was going to try to get me to introduce you to her. You should’ve seen her face when I said you were my date.” Connor giggled.

 

“I think we might need to give her an award for ‘most oblivious person ever’ I mean we literally walked in holding hands!” Jude exclaimed, joining Connor in laughing.

 

“How much you wanna bet she muttered ‘Why are the hot ones always gay?’ as I was walking back over here?” Connor continued joking.

 

“I would bet my entire paycheck on it!” Jude answered, the two of them now leaning on each other for support, they were laughing so hard.  “Alright Connor, let’s play.  And this time don’t hit the ball so hard!”

 

 

When they finished, there was no doubt that Jude was the better mini-golfer.  He only had 33 putts, including 5 holes-in-one, whereas Connor took 47 putts and had only one hole-in-one.

 

“Why am I so bad at mini-golf?” Connor pouted as they walked over to the batting cages.

 

“You’re just better suited for baseball.” Jude commented, giving Connor’s bicep a gentle squeeze. “I mean, that’s what these muscles are for, aren’t they?”

 

“Well that, and to attract the boys.” Connor joked, flexing his arm slightly under Jude’s grip.

 

“Well so far, I don’t think it’s working.” Jude teased, shielding his eyes against the already-set sun as he looked around for the swarm of boys that Connor seemed to be implying were chasing him.

 

“Hey, I attracted you, didn’t I?” Connor protested, grabbing Jude’s other hand and squeezing it.

 

“Yeah, I suppose you did.” Jude admitted.

 

The night was going great so far from both of their perspectives.  For all of the uncertainty they thought would come with dating each other, they weren’t seeing it.  Other than the added dimension of holding hands and occasional kisses, there seemed to be no difference between this and when they hung out as best friends. Except that this felt—better. All of those added dimensions didn’t change things between them, it just made it better.  Jude was starting to wonder why he was so scared of dating Connor in the first place.

 

 

The two finished playing all of the outside attractions around two hours later, leaving them with just fewer than two hours to play the arcade games inside.  They walked inside, hand-in-hand, with Jude leaning his head on Connor’s shoulder.  Connor had a plan for what he was going to do next.  He wanted win as many tickets as he could.  He had spotted a stuffed animal Yoda resting behind the ticket counter when they walked in, and since Jude loved Star Wars, he knew it would be the perfect thing to win for Jude.  But as for what games they played, that was up to Jude, as Connor wasn’t separating from him. He was definitely enjoying every minute they were spending together.

 

“Ooh, Deal or No Deal! That’s one of my favorite arcade games!” Jude screamed over the blaring music in the arcade.  Connor looked at him funny, but Jude just shrugged. “It’s one of the games where you can win the most tickets.  You go first.” Connor laughed as Jude pushed him towards the machine.  He wondered if Jude was working some kind of scheme with his tickets too.

 

He was right on that count. Jude had spotted a puppy dog stuffed animal with a color fur that perfectly matched Connor’s hair, and since he always said Connor reminded him of a puppy, Jude thought it might just be exactly what he should win for Connor.

 

Connor inserted his tokens, picked his case and then waited.  Connor was a gambler (at least when it came to arcade games), so he decided to keep his case until the very end, betting on himself that he picked the right one. It was down to the last two cases. One with 10,000 tickets and the other with one ticket.

 

“You should totally take whatever the banker offers here.” Jude advised.

 

“Are you kidding me? No I want to see what’s in mine!” Connor rebuffed, slamming his hand down on the button to open the last case. Agonizingly slowly, the game opened it up, revealing a case that contained one ticket, meaning that his contained 10,000 tickets.  Connor whooped, leaping up and giving a fist pump.  Jude watched, grinning at his dork of a boyfriend.  _Wait, did he just call Connor his boyfriend_ he wondered.  He didn’t really have time to think about it though because Connor was grabbing him and dragging him onto the platform so he could play.

 

Jude played as well, ending up in the same situation as Connor.  His gut told him to take the banker’s offer, but Connor was right next to him whispering in his ear (Connor had stood pressed up behind Jude with one arm hanging over Jude’s shoulder and the other wrapped around his waist the whole time he was playing).

 

“Don’t take it, don’t take it!” he was telling him.  It went against every fiber of his being, but Jude turned, staring down Connor, whose chin was resting on his shoulder, as he pressed the button to open the last case. Connor put his arm around Jude, staring intently at the screen with him as the last case was opened, revealing…

 

10,000 tickets. Jude’s face fell and Connor placed a kiss on his neck as if to say _sorry_.

 

And so it went with every game they played until they ran out of tokens.  Connor seemed to have all the luck, going first and winning big at pretty much every game they played, and then standing there with Jude as he only managed to win 1-10 tickets at a time.

 

“Attention everyone, the arcade will be closing in five minutes.  Please go and redeem all tickets at the ticket counter now.” someone announced over the PA system.  Connor took his stub with the number of tickets he won on it (26,783 tickets to be exact) as did Jude (who won a pitiful 320 tickets in two hours).  Connor looked up at the stuffed figure that had been his goal all night, seeing that he had just enough tickets to get it (the Yoda figure cost 26,500 tickets).  He handed the man his stub, pointing to it.  He grabbed it handing it to Connor who immediately turned around, shoving it into Jude’s arms.

 

“What’s this?” he asked, surprised.

 

“Just a little something for my bestest friend and now boyfriend.” Connor said with a grin. Jude took the Yoda stuffed figure from Connor, staring at it and then staring at Connor for a moment. Yeah, boyfriend, he was starting to like the sound of that.  But now he was starting to feel bad; he was so bad at playing the games and winning tickets that he couldn’t even get Connor so much as a blow-up beach ball…unless…

 

“Hey are any of the prizes behind the counter for sale?” Jude asked the man cautiously.

 

“Yeah they are, $1 per 1000 tickets.” he replied dully.

 

“Okay then I’d like that stuffed puppy.” Jude said, dropping a few bills on the counter as he pointed to the stuffed animal.

 

“Oh Jude you don’t have to—“ Connor protested as Jude took it from the man and handed it to Connor.

 

“Don’t Connor, I want to,” Jude interrupted.  “You know how I always say you remind me of a puppy?  Well I know you probably can’t see this, but that puppy’s fur right there matches your hair color exactly, so it’s kind of like the _actual_ puppy version of you.” he explained shyly.

 

“I love it Jude.” Connor said softly, reaching over to grab Jude’s hand as they walked out and headed home, both clutching the other’s gift and the other’s hand tightly.


	4. Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so let me just start out by saying, that as I post the fourth part that I had originally only intended for this fic to be two parts, and yet here I am with a fourth part totaling 4,781 words and a fifth part incoming (hopefully tonight). I was struck by an idea and when I got it, I just had to see it through to the end, so the result was a fic much longer than I was expecting, but that's a good thing. I really hope you enjoy this second to last part, especially the ending of it (which I was honestly full-on squealing as I was writing).

Jude sat in the car quietly for most of the ride home, just thinking.  Thinking a little bit about how the great their date was but mostly trying to figure out just when things between them had changed.  When had their best friendship become more so that they could go on a date and hold hands and hug up close to each other and it felt totally natural, like they’d been doing it for years.  Trying to figure out exactly when he had fallen in love with his best friend.

 

It wasn’t in question anymore that he was in love with Connor, and truthfully, the question wasn’t even how long he had been in love with Connor, because it had been years.  No, the question was, why had he been so scared to do anything about it.  Was it because he was scared of losing him, like he had told Connor?  The more he thought about it, the more he was pretty sure that wasn’t it.  He was pretty sure Connor loved him back for longer than he had been in love with Connor.  There was only one other thing Jude could think of, that he was scared of things changing.  That was why, and now that things had changed, they were definitely better and the decision to hold onto that fear was looking dumber and dumber.

 

Which meant to Jude that there was only one thing to do, and that was to make as grand an apology to Connor as he could.  An apology, obviously for being so stupid, but also a thank you to Connor for sticking around so long and being so patient.  He wasn’t sure what that apology/thank you would entail but it would definitely mean…

 

“Can I plan the date tomorrow?” Jude blurted out, breaking the comfortable silence in the car.

 

“I uh—was this really that bad?” Connor asked weakly, afraid that Jude wanting to plan the next date was a sign that tonight’s date was actually awful, even though all the evidence suggested otherwise.

 

“Oh god no Connor!” Jude exclaimed.  “It was perfect, honest!  That’s why I wanted to plan the next one—you know to give you your perfect date,” he added shyly.

 

“Oh, um okay.  Yeah sure,” Connor replied, breathing out a sigh of relief as they pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex.  “What did you have in mind?”  Jude rolled his eyes.

 

“You really think I’m going to tell you after you made such a big deal out of not telling me?” Jude asked laughing as the two got out of the car and made their way into the building.

 

“Maybe if I threaten to push you into a puddle you will,” Connor teased with a smirk, moving behind Jude and lightly grabbing him by the shoulders.

 

“Hey, that was an accident!” Jude protested.

 

“Sure Jan,” Connor answered, letting go of Jude’s shoulders, instead grabbing his hand and giggling heartily.

 

“Oh my god you did not just Tumblr meme me!” Jude groaned, giving Connor a light punch on the arm.

 

“Hey so Connor, I was being serious.  I had a really great time,” Jude said softly, once they were standing inside their apartment.  He stopped and turned to face Connor, grabbing his other hand and locking eyes with him.

 

“Yeah, I definitely did too.”

 

Jude leaned in, quickly pressing his lips to Connor’s and giving him a quick kiss.  It wasn’t long or deep, but after it was over Jude was severely tempted to lean back in and kiss Connor again, but he held himself back.  He could do this as much as he wanted, _after_ tomorrow’s date.

 

“Good night Connor,” Jude whispered, before dropping Connor’s hands and disappearing into his bedroom, immediately beginning to pace back and forth.  He’d basically promised Connor the perfect date (and apology, though Connor didn’t know about that part yet) and yet he had no clue what that perfect date would be.  As he paced, he thought about all crazy things that had happened to them since they became friends, but none stuck out more than the way they had met.

 

_*Flashback – The Beginning of their Junior Year of College (Approximately 4 years from the current date)*_

_Jude was in a hurry.  He was going to be late for his first class of the new semester, which was never a good idea.  Giving the professor a reason to hate him before the end of the first class period could prove disastrous.  So now he was sprinting through the rather large coffee shop closest to his apartment, too focused on trying to be on time to notice the stray foot in his path.  He tripped over it, tumbling forward but rather than landing on the ground, he fell into the chest of someone in front of him, squishing his cup between them and spilling coffee all over both of them._

_“Fuck, oh my god I am so sorry!” Jude exclaimed, turning bright red.  “I didn’t mean to run into you I was just late for my class and I wasn’t watching where I was going and I tripped,” he continued explaining, looking up and seeing a boy with dark, sandy blond hair and the softest, but also darkest pair of brown eyes that he had ever seen.  His eyebrows were furrowed, but not in anger or annoyance, but rather in curiosity._

_“No worries.” the boy shrugged.  “It was just an accident.  But um, can I ask you something a little awkward?”  Jude nodded; the moment was already plenty awkward, there honestly wasn’t much this boy could ask to make it worse.  “My apartment is a couple of miles off campus; I was thinking if you live any closer maybe I could borrow a shirt, you know since there’s coffee all over mine?”_

_“Uh—uh, y-yeah sure, my apartment is just a block from here.” Jude stuttered, turning and motioning for the boy to follow him._

_“My name’s Connor, by the way.” he said, falling in step right beside Jude._

_“Jude,” Jude replied curtly, turning to keep his face hidden from Connor as much as possible to hide his embarrassment._

_“So Jude, you’re late huh?  On the first day of classes no less; that’s never a good thing.” Connor commented.  Jude glared at him, but much to his surprise, Connor just giggled.  Jude had given him his “bitch face” look, which usually never failed to shut some one up or get them to move as far away from Jude as possible, but it seemed to have no effect on this Connor guy.  “That’s a scary looking face.” Connor added when he finally stopping laughing._

_“I’m right here.” Jude said ignoring him, turning up the stairs and walking into his apartment, Connor following close behind._

_“Well this is a nice little place you have here.  Nothing like the hell-hole I live in.”_

_“My moms pay for it; they tell me it’s a really expensive apartment,” Jude replied._

_“Oh, that makes sense.  See you’re lucky; I’ve got to pay for my own.” Connor griped as Jude walked back into his bedroom, pulling two shirts out of his dresser._

_“Here, take this, it’s the biggest shirt I have.” Jude said, walking back out and tossing Connor a shirt that he wasn’t entirely sure would fit him.  Connor was tall, with broad shoulders thickly padded with muscles, arms that were practically bulging out of the shirt he was currently wearing (which definitely didn’t bode well for them fitting in Jude’s shirt), and pectorals that puffed out his chest.  Connor didn’t even have to take off his shirt for Jude to know that he had six-pack abs as well.  Jude on the other hand was about three inches shorter than Connor, with a wiry, lanky build, and as a consequence wore shirts that were likely at least two sizes smaller than the shirts Connor wore._

_Connor shrugged off the shirt he was currently wearing, exposing his bare torso (Jude tried not to look, but as would eventually become habit for him, he failed spectacularly), and quickly tossed on the shirt that Jude had given him.  He managed to get it on, the fabric of the shirt stretching to its limit, tightly squeezing Connor’s upper body._

_“I look ridiculous!” Connor exclaimed, chortling loudly as he did._

_“Oh I don’t know.  I think wearing a shirt like that you’re going to have to beat the ladies off with a stick.” Jude teased._

_“It’s not the ladies I’m worried about,” Connor said, winking at Jude._

_“No need to worry, I can tell you that the boys will be all over you too.” Jude replied, winking back._

_That next day, Connor had insisted on coming back to Jude’s apartment to give him the shirt back, even though it had been stretched so far that Jude couldn’t even wear it anymore.  And then the day after that, Jude (figuratively) ran into Connor at the coffee shop, and the two of them sat down and had a cup of coffee together (for over three hours!).  It didn’t take more than a week for the two of them to become inseparable, with Connor moving into out of his so-called hell-hole apartment and into Jude’s apartment less than a month after they first met._

_*End Flashback*_

Thinking back to that day, Jude knew exactly what he was going to do for his date, and that meant he also had to involve Connor’s most embarrassing moment of their friendship (hey it was only fair if Jude was reliving his most embarrassing moment that Connor would have to as well).

 

 

_*Flashback – One Year After the Coffee Shop Incident*_

_“Come on Jude!  We didn’t come here for the weekend to sit in the tent the whole time!” Connor whined.  They were out camping, just the two of them, at a secluded lake only a couple miles from campus (and by secluded I mean secluded; they were the only ones there).  Jude would’ve preferred to stay in the apartment and watch movies or something, but when Connor asked him he had given him those puppy dog eyes and so here he was, out in a tent, surrounded by trees and about 100 billion mosquitoes.  Jude looked over at Connor, who once again was giving him the puppy dog eyes that Connor knew he couldn’t say no to._

_“Alright, fine,” Jude groaned.  “I’ll go swimming with you.  Now get out of the tent so I can change into my swimsuit.”  Connor grinned at him before unzipping the door and stepping out of the tent, putting his own swimsuit on outside the tent (they were literally the only ones there so it wasn’t a big deal).  He frowned; the suit was a little looser than he remembered when he tried it on in the store, but he shrugged it off and ran off, jumping into the water, Jude following a couple of yards behind him._

_Now that they were out in the water, it wasn’t too bad.  With most of his body submerged, Jude wasn’t being eaten alive by mosquitoes so that was a plus.  He just treaded water, watching Connor swim around and splash happily._

_Connor had swum out to the middle of the lake (it was small so he did it just to prove he could) and was swimming back when he felt his suit get snagged on something.  He could already feel his face heating up because he knew exactly what was about to happen.  His suit was a little loose, and he was swimming really fast, so in a matter of seconds, his trunks slid right off.  By the time he stopped and was able to get turned around, they were nowhere to be found, having sunk beyond sight, hidden beneath the murky lake water._

_“Something wrong Connor?” Jude called out from a couple hundred yards away, noticing that Connor had stopped swimming and had turned around._

_“I—um yeah.” Connor said quietly (their voices carried pretty far considering the lake was surrounded by trees and there was no other voices to contend with)._

_“What’s up?” Jude asked, starting to swim over to where Connor was._

_“OH MY GOD JUDE, STAY OVER THERE!” Connor shouted at the top of his lungs once he saw Jude starting to come over.  Jude looked really startled, and pretty worried so Connor decided he should probably explain.  “I lost my swimsuit Jude,” he added.  Jude looked at him curiously for a second before bursting into laughter._

_“How the fuck did you manage that?” Jude choked out, laughing so hard that he was starting to cry._

_“Just turn around and stay there.” Connor mumbled, face as red as a tomato.  Jude turned around like Connor asked, and Connor swam to shore as quickly as possible, sprinting up to the tent and grabbing a towel before diving inside.  Throwing on his underwear and shorts (but foregoing the shirt; it was really hot), Connor came back out of the tent, his whole body appearing to be bright red._

_“What, you lose your shirt too?” Jude teased from the water._

_“Shut up.”_

_*End Flashback*_

 

 

Jude sat there thinking, when an idea struck him like lightning.  It was absolutely crazy, and there was no guarantee that it was going to turn out perfectly, but there was no question that it _was_ the perfect idea.  He snatched up his phone, sending Connor a text.

 

_J: Don’t make any plans for lunch or dinner tomorrow_

_J: And be ready to go to breakfast at 7:30_

_C: K_

With that taken care of, Jude also sent a quick email to his boss, letting him know he was taking tomorrow off (he was going to need to totally focus on this date for it to be a success).  He stopped pacing, jumping onto his bed and smiling, quickly falling asleep.  It was crazy; but more than crazy enough to work.

 

 

“Why did I have to get up at 7:30 today, you know this is my morning to go in to work late and get some more sleep,” Connor moaned groggily.

 

“Because, it’s all part of my plan for the perfect date Connor, so shush.” Jude replied.  They were walking in the cold, damp morning air to the nearby coffee shop that was the site of their first encounter.  Jude had grabbed Connor’s hand the second he stepped into the living room and so now they were side by side, as close to each other as possible.  After strolling down the sidewalk for a few minutes, Jude stopped and turned, facing the shop, and waiting for a moment to see if Connor recognized or remembered the significance of this place.

 

“So you woke me up early to come have breakfast at some coffee shop?” Connor asked curiously, and by Jude’s guess, still lacking any recognition of why they were here.

 

“Don’t you remember what happened here?” Jude asked, trying to jog Connor’s memory.

 

“I—not really,” Connor said, scrunching up his face and sticking out his tongue slightly in concentration, trying to remember.  Jude stood there for a moment, giving Connor some time to think about it, before gently stumbling into Connor, thinking that maybe the action would help Connor remember.  He pulled back, watching as Connor’s face suddenly lit up.  “Wait, this is where we first met!” Connor exclaimed.  “You spilled coffee all over me and I had to borrow one of your shirts!”

 

“Bingo!” Jude answered happily, feeling all fuzzy inside at the excited look Connor got on his face when he remembered.  God he was so in love with this boy; he was so happy that he was now going to be able to call Connor his boyfriend.

 

“So this is the perfect date huh?  Breakfast at the coffee shop where we first met?” Connor questioned, giggling softly.

 

“Not entirely.  This is just the first thing.” Jude commented, pulling Connor into the coffee shop.  “But there’s more to this place than just our first meeting.  The first time we ever really talked was here too.  We ran into each other here and ended up ‘having coffee’ for three hours.”

 

“Oh yeah.” Connor said, grinning broadly at the memory.  “That coffee ‘date’ was the moment I first knew that you were going to be someone really special to me.”  Jude turned to look at Connor, smiling shyly.  With the way Connor was looking back at him, love written all over his face, Jude had to fight the urge to tackle Connor and kiss him right there on the coffee shop floor, feeling his heart melt a little from that and what Connor said (okay it wasn’t just a little, it was actually a whole lot).  But that statement also confirmed Jude’s hunch that Connor fell for him almost from the start, hence why he wanted to come to the coffee shop, so the two of them could relive that beginning.

 

“Yeah, I knew you were gonna be someone special then too.” Jude said, squeezing Connor’s hand and laying his head on Connor’s shoulder.  He didn’t fall in love right then like he was pretty sure Connor did, but he knew right away that Connor would become his best friend, and if it wasn’t for that he never would’ve fallen in love with Connor in the first place.

 

“Who would’ve guessed that spilling coffee on you would turn into this.” Jude sighed contentedly, grabbing Connor’s hand which was lying limply on the table.

 

“I don’t think I did,” Connor answered, munching on a chocolate chip muffin.  They sat there for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes and just enjoying the quiet and each other’s company.  “So I’m guessing the next part of the date is lunch, since you told me not to make any lunch plans.” Connor said, breaking the silence a while later.

 

“Yep. I’ll pick you up at 11:30.  You should plan on taking an hour and a half lunch,” Jude replied, smirking mischievously.

 

“What do you have planned?” Connor asked, his eyes widening slightly and some color draining from his face.  If it wasn’t for that smirk, Connor wouldn’t be a little bit scared about what Jude had in mind.

 

“You’ll find out.”

 

 

“Ready for lunch?” Jude asked as he picked Connor up from work, grabbing his hand and entwining their fingers the second he climbed in.  Jude had spent all morning after Connor had left for work preparing a picnic basket with all of Connor’s favorite foods (see the whole theme with this “perfect date” was food, since Connor loved to eat).

 

“You gonna tell me where we’re going?” Connor inquired, the same slightly scared look on his face as earlier that morning in the coffee shop.

 

“I think you’ll figure it out soon enough,” Jude replied, putting the car in drive and taking off.  Connor watched as they got on the highway, driving for a good 15 minutes before Jude pulled off on an exit that could only lead to one place.

 

“You are not!” Connor groaned, his face turning a dark shade of pink at the memory.

 

“You bet I am,” Jude affirmed.

 

“But why?” Connor whined.

 

“Shh, not until we get there.” Jude shushed.

 

 

“You want to tell me now _why_ we’re at the site of my most embarrassing moment of our friendship?” Connor asked as Jude spread out a blanket next to the water.

 

“Come on, sit.” Jude said, patting the spot on the blanket next to him.  Connor shuffled over, gingerly sitting down and putting his face in his hands, trying to hide his blush and fight off the overwhelming feeling of awkwardness and embarrassment that was washing over him.  Jude snaked his arms around Connor’s chest, snuggling in tightly to his side and resting his head on Connor’s shoulder.

 

“We’re at this lake because it was here that I fell in love with you.” Jude said, deciding not to mince his words.  “Just spending the whole weekend here with you, talking, swimming, and yes, even you losing your swimsuit, was all just so great.  I felt so comfortable just hanging out with you because of all of that, and honestly, it was probably the best two days of my life, at least until now.”

 

“Until now?” Connor said, slowly lowering his hands and turning to look Jude in the eye.

 

“Yeah, I wanted to come out here to the place I first fell in love with you to apologize for being an idiot.  I’ve been so fucking stupid about not wanting to date you, and it was all because I was scared.  And I wasn’t scared of losing you like I said, but I was scared of things changing.  I let a totally dumb and irrational fear keep us apart for three years and I am so sorry for that.  Last night and so far today has been so wonderful, I just can’t believe I was so stubborn to—“ Jude explained, starting to cry (even though he hadn't intended to cry) before being cut off by Connor pressing his lips to Jude’s.  The kiss was soft and slow, full of love and adoration, as Jude’s tears spilled from his eyes and onto Connor’s face.

 

“It’s okay Jude,” Connor said softly, cupping Jude’s cheek, wiping away Jude’s tears with his thumb and looking him in the eye.  “It doesn’t matter to me now because now you’re not scared anymore, and now—well now we have each other.”

 

“I just—I could’ve lost you because I couldn’t get past my own fear,” Jude blubbered.

 

“You could’ve never lost me Jude.  I was willing to wait for you as long as it took,” Connor answered, chuckling quietly, and pulling Jude’s head into his chest, stroking his hair gently.  “I don’t think I could ever love someone as much as I love you,” he whispered, placing a kiss onto Jude’s messy brown hair.

 

“You know how, when we agreed to do this, you told me you were scared of losing me to someone else?” Jude replied quietly.  Connor nodded.  “Well I’m pretty sure I could have never ever dated anyone but you.  Because, truth be told, I don’t think I could have ever loved anyone else as much as I love you either.”

 

“We spent all this time just circling in the ring, knowing how much we cared for each other and what we were feeling for each other, but the only reason it came together was because of the one person who was insistent all along that we were perfect together.  We should send Mariana a thank you card or something.” Connor commented, laughing softly.

 

“Oh don’t worry about that, I think I have something better in mind, my boyfriend.” Jude answered.

 

“What’s that, boyfriend?” Connor replied, smiling broadly at Jude calling him his boyfriend.

 

“It’s a surprise.  You’ll find out soon enough.  Now we should probably eat, since you have to get back to work and I have something important to do this afternoon before our dinner reservations.”

 

“Oh, so you have more planned?” Connor asked.

 

“Yeah, I told you not to make any dinner plans either. You bet I have something planned.” Jude said winking.

 

 

Jude was in his bedroom, padding back and forth across the floor, trying not to pass out from how anxious he was.  He wasn’t even sure what gave him this crazy idea, or how he got the courage to try and follow through with it.  But he had reached the point of no return; Connor was getting ready in his bedroom and they were leaving for dinner in five minutes.  Jude paced for another moment or two before he patted his pockets, making sure that he had absolutely everything, and he stepped out into the living room.

 

Connor was there waiting for him, and when he turned around to face him, Connor’s appearance hit Jude like a knockout punch.  They were going to a fancy restaurant, and as such, Connor was wearing a black suit, tailored to hug his frame tightly, showing off his wide shoulders.  With the suit he had paired the bright blue bow tie that he had borrowed from Jude for Mariana’s wedding (and still hadn’t given back).  His sandy blond hair was styled up and gently swept to the side, and on his face he wore a wide, bright smile.  Jude swore that if he hadn’t paid through the nose to get these reservations, he would’ve decided to skip dinner entirely and rip Connor’s clothes off right there in the living room.

 

Jude took a deep breath before walking over to Connor, entwining their hands and pulling him in for a passionate kiss that lasted way longer than Jude should have let it.  Jude pulled away, breathless, and turned, leading Connor towards the door, butterflies fluttering wildly in his stomach.

 

 

“Wow Jude, how did you even get us a table here?” Connor asked incredulously as the waiter led them to be seated.

 

“I-it wasn’t easy, t-trust me,” Jude stuttered.  His nerves were going absolutely haywire and it took every bit of his energy to keep his breathing steady and even.  Connor stopped, turning and pulling Jude close into his chest.

 

“Is everything alright?” he whispered, concern lacing his tone.  Jude nodded, already feeling much calmer in Connor’s embrace.  He took a deep breath, pulling away from Connor and taking his seat at their table.  There was no way he was going to let his nerves ruin this night.

 

They had just finished their appetizers (and a whole bottle of wine) when Jude decided to make his move.

 

“C-Connor, there’s something I want to ask you.” Jude announced, biting his lip nervously.

 

“Go ahead.” Connor replied, turning his full attention on Jude, looking at him intently and making Jude feel like Connor thought he was the only one in the whole restaurant.

 

“I’m pretty sure this is totally crazy but Connor, ever since we kissed at Mariana’s wedding, I’ve been thinking about how many moments we’ve missed because we haven’t been dating.  And I’ve been thinking about all the moments in our friendship and how much you really understand me, even though we haven’t dated until just these last two days.  And that’s the thing, I feel like despite how little we’ve dated, ever since I met you, we’ve always been together and we’ve always been ‘us’.  I know in my heart that these last two days is what we’ve meant to be all along,” Jude started, speaking softly and shakily, gaining more confidence as Connor started grinning at him the longer he spoke.  Jude got up from his chair, moving over to where Connor was sitting and getting down on one knee, pulling a small felt box from his pocket.  “It was a wedding that started it all, so knowing all that, knowing how I already know you and you already know me, and knowing that I don’t want to miss one more moment with you, and knowing that I love you so much that my heart constantly feels like it’s going to burst, I have brought you here Connor, to first of all offer one last apology for being an idiot and, to get down on one knee and ask you: Connor Stevens, will you marry me?” Jude finished, locking eyes with Connor and opening up the box to reveal a simple gold band.

 

Connor squealed, loud, long and high, leaping forward and tackling Jude to the ground, peppering him with kisses for what seemed like an hour (okay so it was only a minute, but it _felt_ like an hour) and screaming _yes!_ in between every one.  He pulled away for a moment, giving Jude the biggest, goofiest, most lovesick grin Jude had ever seen in his life, before leaning in and giving Jude one more kiss, this one on the lips.  It was long, sloppy (fueled by the bottle of wine they had shared between them) and involved lots of tongue, and full of passion as the both sought to tell the other just how much they loved them.  The whole restaurant cheered and applauded, having watched the scene from the beginning as it played out.

 

“Here, give me your hand,” Jude said, smiling as wide as his face would let him, and then maybe a little bit wider still.  They both sat up (still on the floor) and Jude pulled the ring from the box, sliding it on Connor’s finger and cupping his cheek, pulling him in for another kiss.

 

“I love you so much Jude,” Connor breathed out when they pulled away moments later.

 

“I love you more than my words could ever say Connor,” Jude replied, diving back in to kiss Connor again.


	5. Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the finale! Hope you enjoy :)
> 
> Warning for implied sexual content

“So how do you think we should break the news to Mariana?” Jude asked later that night as they were laying in Connor’s bed, Jude cuddled up into his side and resting his head on Connor’s bare chest, absentmindedly playing with the ring on Connor’s hand.  The last three and a half hours since he proposed had been a blur.  Dinner had involved more wine and feeling happier than he ever remembered being.  After dinner, there was lots of kissing as they stumbled back to the apartment as quickly as possible, and well, you can guess the rest.  They had sex, and Jude honestly couldn’t remember how many times, all he knew was that Connor made him feel like nothing else ever had before.  In fact, if they weren’t both so tired as to be on the verge of falling asleep, they probably would still be going at it.  But lying in bed with Connor like this made Jude feel just as good.  Being close to Connor in any way was what made him feel happiest and safest.

 

“Mmmm, I don’t know, but we should probably tell her ASAP.” Connor replied; his eyes closed as he slowly rubbed Jude’s back.

 

“Yeah, I think if we don’t tell her tomorrow she’ll probably kill us.  We’re probably going to get in trouble for not telling her tonight.” Jude chuckled.

 

“I think she’ll understand about tonight.” Connor commented, opening his eyes, a smirk spreading across his lips as he tilted his head down to kiss Jude.

 

“Mmph, Connor I’m too tired right now.  Besides, I—we have to pick Mariana and her husband up at the airport in five hours.” Jude protested after kissing back for a moment.  Connor pouted for a moment before pressing a gentle kiss to Jude’s forehead.

 

“Okay.  Good night, fiancé,” he whispered.  “I love you so much.”

 

“I love you too.” Jude whispered back, closing his eyes and falling asleep almost instantly, safely wrapped up in Connor’s warm embrace.  Connor looked down at the sleeping boy in his arms, smiling, and wondering how an invitation to be Jude’s plus one at his sister’s wedding had turned into this.  By no means was he complaining; this was what he had hoped would happen between him and Jude almost since the beginning.  But never had he imagined that Jude would propose to him after dating for a mere two days, and he most definitely had not imagined a proposal that soon making sense.  Yet it did; they were best friends, they lived together for almost four years and they already knew each other inside out.  Having their first date, holding hands, acting like a couple was just the last piece of the puzzle; the last bit of dust settling to reveal the whole scene.  Connor sighed contentedly, pulling Jude in a little bit tighter and rested his head on top of Jude’s, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

 

 

They walked into the airport the next morning, moving slowly, both dead tired and a little sore, but holding hands and wearing wide smiles.  As they sat down to wait for Mariana’s plane to arrive, Jude scooted close to Connor, letting out a yawn and cuddling up close to him, leaning his head on Connor’s shoulder.

 

“Well aren’t you two just the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.” Mariana commented, walking up from behind them.  Connor gently nudged Jude, who in about thirty seconds, had already started to drift off.

 

“Mariana’s here,” he whispered, giving Jude a kiss on the top of his head before slowly lifting him to his feet as Jude tried to shake off his cobwebs.

 

“Hey Mariana,” Jude yawned, walking over and giving his sister and her husband a hug.

 

“You seem pretty tired,” Mariana said, noting the dark circles under Jude’s eyes and (obviously) his multitude of yawns.

 

“Yeah, well Connor and I had a pretty—wild night last night.” Jude answered, his exhaustion gone as he started grinning from ear to ear.

 

“Damn, you two only had your first date two days ago,” Mariana chuckled, surprised at he brother’s forwardness, shaking her head gently.  “You might want to slow down.”

 

“Well about that,” Jude continued.  “You might want to sit down.”

 

“Why would I want to—“ Mariana began to protest before she looked over at Connor who was standing closely to Jude, playing with something on his finger and it didn’t take long for Mariana to put two and two together. “YOU TWO DID NOT ALREADY!” she shrieked at the top of her lungs.

 

“Yeah, we did,” Jude replied, laughing at his sister’s reaction.  “Last night.  I mean I proposed last night.  Connor said yes and I couldn’t be happier.”

 

“B-b-but you two just—“ Mariana babbled, obviously overjoyed but also supremely confused at their quick engagement.

 

“I know this is fast, but as Jude told me when he proposed, if you think about it, we’ve honestly already been dating for years, just without all the couple-y stuff,” Connor tried to explain.

 

“Yeah, exactly,” Jude agreed.  Mariana sat and mulled it over for a moment.

 

“So you two finally stopped being stupid, congratulations!” she said, jumping up to hug them both.  “You’re telling the family this afternoon right?” she added anxiously.

 

“Yeah.  We were even thinking we might—“ Jude said before Mariana cut him off, just as he expected she would.

 

“Oh no you don’t!  You are not getting married today, and don’t give me that surprised look I know how you think.  You two are having a _real_ wedding, and you are letting me plan it for you.  It’s the least you can do to thank me, since I did pretty much set this whole thing up for you,” Mariana demanded.

 

“Alright, we’ll do it your way then,” Jude said smugly, holding out his hand.  “Also you owe me five bucks Connor.”

 

“Damn, I thought you weren’t going to remember that,” Connor griped, pulling a bill out of his pocket and slapping it in Jude’s hand.

 

“Glad to know that at least I’m predictable.  Now let’s get going, I’m dying for the rest of the family to find out!” Mariana exclaimed, grabbing her husband and dragging him along behind Jude and Connor.

 

“But you can’t tell them!” Jude yelled over his shoulder, arm around the Connor’s shoulder, their heads leaning together as they walked.

 

“Ugh, fine!” Mariana groaned.  “But you better not make me wait the whole day!”

 

 

Mariana rushed into the Adams-Foster house, which had been bustling for the last few days since Mariana’s wedding, as most of the family had not left to go home yet (Jude and Mariana were the only ones who still lived within driving distance), as soon Jude put the car in park.  Jude and Connor stayed behind, sitting in the car for an extra minute.

 

“You ready for this?” Jude asked, looking over at Connor who was giving him a toothy smile.

 

“I’ve been ready for this since forever,” Connor replied, leaning over and giving Jude a kiss on the cheek before stepping out of the vehicle.  He walked over to where Jude had also gotten out and stood waiting, entwining their fingers and walking up the porch steps and into the house, both of them smiling broadly.

 

“Nice to see you lovebirds,” Jesus commented as he strode past the two as they walked in the door, on his way to the kitchen.

 

“Good to see you too Jesus,” Jude replied happily.  Jesus stopped in his tracks, turning on his heel and walking back over to them.

 

“What, no snappy sarcastic comment or ‘bitch face’?” Jesus asked curiously, confused since he’d gotten that reaction every previous time he had teased his little brother about Connor (and obviously Jesus was missing that they were holding hands).  Jude shook his head, his grin not fading one bit.  “Okay, something’s up with you two, I just don’t know what it is, but trust me I am going to find out.” Jesus continued, shaking his head and he returned to the kitchen.

 

“It’s a good thing I’m holding your left hand or else the secret would already be out,” Jude whispered to Connor.

 

“You’re probably right,” Connor whispered back, and they both giggled.

 

“What’s this giggling I hear?” Stef asked, bounding out from the kitchen into the entryway where Jude and Connor still stood.  “Jude!  And Connor!  How great to see you both!” she exclaimed, bringing both of them in for a hug.

 

“Connor, we weren’t expecting to see you here.” Lena commented, shuffling out of the kitchen behind her wife.

 

“Can’t say that I was expecting to be here.” Connor replied, feeling almost as if he was giving the two of them a subtle hint.

 

“Well we’re glad to have you!” she beamed.  “Why don’t you join the rest of the siblings out in the backyard?”

 

They walked out into the backyard, still tightly gripping each other’s hands (because let’s be real, they both wanted to hold hands and be close every chance they had), to a wolf-whistle and a smattering of applause.  Jude blushed while Connor laughed.

 

“Everything going well for you two I see,” Brandon commented slyly.

 

“Oh, it’s going _sooooo_ much better than you think,” Mariana replied snidely, earning a glare from Jude.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Callie asked, studying the two of them closely.  Since no one could see the engagement ring, Callie’s only clues were their wide smiles and hand-holding.  After a minute, she shrugged, going back to the conversation, which somehow had already progressed past talking about Jude and Connor.  Mariana sat there, glaring back at Jude who was still glaring at her, as it was obviously killing her to keep their engagement a secret from everyone.

 

“You two should go find a seat,” Stef encouraged, coming up behind them with Lena.

 

“Actually um, now that you two are out here, Connor and I have an announcement to make.” Jude said, dropping Connor’s hand, knowing that was all he was going to have to do.  It was literally a matter of seconds before the entire backyard was screaming, pointing at Connor and all babbling nonsense.  Connor moved behind Jude, snaking his arms around his waist and resting his chin on Jude’s shoulder.  Jude leaned his body back slightly into Connor, placing his arms over Connor’s arms and cocking his head to rest it against Connor’s as they both waited for everyone to quiet down.

 

“Congratulations!” was the first clear thing they heard, coming from Stef who had been quietly waiting just like the two of them had.

 

“Yeah, congrats!  It’s about damn time!” Jesus said next, causing an eruption of laughter from those gathered.  Callie stood up and walked over hugging them both (without separating them of course).  Certainly she was shocked at how quickly they had gotten engaged, but she could honestly say in the all the years that she had known her brother, she had never seen him happier or more content than he was right now.

 

“Congratulations. I’m so happy for you my baby brother,” she whispered in his ear.  Jude turned slightly pink at being called her baby brother, but he smiled knowing that Callie was genuinely happy for him.  Out of all the people in his family, Callie’s reaction was the only one he knew he couldn’t predict, and he half expected her to yell at him for jumping into things with Connor so fast.  But she didn’t and neither did the rest of the family (as everyone minus Callie had thought that they should’ve gotten together a long time ago).

 

“Alright, so when’s the wedding?” Lena asked as they all sat back down, Connor cuddling up into Jude this time (as much as he liked snuggling into Connor, now that Connor was burrowed into his side, Jude decided he liked that just as much). 

 

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask our wedding planner?” Jude responded, jerking his head over in Mariana’s direction.

 

“Well, fitting with the theme of ‘moving fast’, I was thinking in like a month.” Mariana stated calmly.

 

“What do you think of that?” Jude said, looking down at Connor.

 

“The sooner the better,” Connor replied, to which Jude nodded in agreement.

 

“Well then Mariana, I would suggest that you get busy,” Stef commented.  “From experience I can tell you that planning a wedding in that short of time is no easy feat.”

 

“Oh trust me, I think I’m more than up to the task,” Mariana replied.  “It’s going to be perfect.

 

 

_*One Month Later*_

Jude woke up to any empty bed and someone pounding on his bedroom door.  He groaned, forcing his eyes open to find a scribbled note left in the place where Connor should’ve been.

 

_Wow Jude, I didn’t realize you were such a heavy sleeper; you didn’t even stir when I had to pull you off me to get up (learn something new every day, right? ;P)  Any way, Mariana came into the apartment and basically forced me out of bed…something about bad luck to see you before the wedding and blah blah blah I wasn’t really listening.  I just went along with her because I was too tired to protest.  Brandon and Jesus are coming over to help you get ready (not that you_ really _need any help).  I’ll see you at the hall my soon-to-be husband :)_

_All my love,_

_Connor <3_

“Ay yo, little bro you need to get up!” Jesus shouted through the closed door.  Jude rolled over, taking his pillow and shoving it down over his head.

 

“Go away!” he yelled, his voice still garbled by sleep, pissed off by the rude awakening he was getting this morning, and on his wedding day no less.  Mariana was definitely going to be getting a piece of his mind for taking away Connor so he didn’t get his usual wake-up kisses.  His pillow was suddenly yanked away from him and he flipped over, pawing at whoever was standing over him.

 

“You do realize that if you’re late, we’re the ones Mariana is going to kill, right?” Brandon questioned, tossing the pillow to the other side of the room.

 

“Not if I kill her first,” Jude mumbled, still sprawled out all over the bed.

 

“C’mon Jude, if you won’t get up for us, then do it for Connor.” Jesus pleaded.  Jude’s eyes shot open, finally awake enough for everything to register in his brain.  _Connor.  Wedding.  Today.  Holy shit he was getting married to Connor today!_   Jude threw off the covers and tumbled out of bed, forgetting that he and Connor had—well you know—the night before and that he was completely naked, much to his brothers’ chagrin.

 

“Yikes dude, get some clothes on!” Brandon exclaimed, grabbing Jesus by the arm and dragging him out of the room.  Had it been any other day, Jude would’ve been extremely embarrassed about rolling out of bed naked in front of his brothers, but today he didn’t care because his mind had already wandered off, to thinking about Connor and thinking about his wedding, and to getting really nervous.  He wasn’t even sure what he had to be nervous about.  It’s not like Connor was going to leave him at the altar or anything.  And he didn’t have any details to worry about, just get ready and show up.  So why was he so nervous?  Rather than try to answer that question, he instead pulled his tux out of the closet and stumbled into the bathroom to get dressed.

 

 

Meanwhile Connor was sitting grumpily in the back of Mariana’s car, being whisked away to the Adams-Foster house where he would be getting ready for the wedding.

 

“It’s just an old superstition!” he protested, trying valiantly to get Mariana to turn the car around and take him back to the apartment.

 

“Might I remind you that _you_ both were the ones who agreed to a ‘traditional’ wedding?” Mariana retorted.  “This is a very ‘traditional’ thing to do!”  Connor sighed, folding his arms over his chest and slumping back into his seat.  He’d been trying to convince her for ten minutes to no avail, so he decided just to give up.  Mariana just kept getting more hostile.  Soon enough there would be nothing to keep him and Jude apart.  That thought alone was enough wipe the frown off Connor’s face and make him smile.

 

“Thinking about your soon-to-be husband?” Mariana asked, after looking over and catching the grin on Connor’s face.

 

“As if I was thinking about anyone else,” Connor scoffed at her question, still feeling extremely irritated with her.

 

“Wow okay can we drop the attitude Connor, I mean I did plan this whole thing out for you.  Or if not for me, can you do it for Jude?” Mariana implored as they pull into the driveway, tired of Connor’s aggravation that had been directed at her ever since she picked him up.

 

“Fine,” Connor huffed, getting out and stomping up to the house.

 

“Connor, love, what’s with the frown?” Stef asked as soon as he walked in the door.

 

“He’s been complaining all morning about me taking him from Jude, like they asked me to do.” Mariana said, walking in immediately behind Connor.

 

“Oh, love,” Stef replied laughing.  “I know the feeling but I promise you’ll see him soon enough,” she continued, placing a hand on Connor’s back and herding him up the stairs to get into his tuxedo.

 

 

“Jude, for the ten thousandth time, your hair looks fine and your bow tie isn’t crooked!” Brandon groaned exasperatedly.  Jude just eyed him suspiciously and Brandon threw up his hands, strolling out into the living room and collapsing on the couch.  “I give up!  I had no idea that getting Jude to his wedding was going to be this hard.” he sighed to Jesus who was nervously fidgeting in a chair across from him.  His phone rang and he picked it up immediately.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You guys on your way yet?” Mariana’s voice crackled through the speaker.

 

“No we’re not,” Brandon groaned, “because Jude keeps messing with his hair and bow tie.  I swear to God we are never going to leave this apartment, every time I think he’s ready, he just disappears back into the bathroom as quickly as he appeared.”

 

“Alright, give him the phone,” Mariana ordered.

 

“What do I tell him?  He been in a particularly foul mood all morning specifically because _you_ didn’t let them wake up together, muttering all sorts of things about you, he is most definitely not going to want to talk to you.” Brandon explained.

 

“Right, okay because I’m doing exactly what they _asked_ me to do, I’m the bad guy,” Mariana muttered.  “Fine, just lie and tell him it’s Connor.”

 

“Like hell I’m doing that!  If I feed him that lie I’m sure he’d kill me and I’d honestly prefer to make it through today alive!” Brandon retorted.

 

“You know what, just stop arguing and shut up!  I’ll talk to her!” Jude shouted, storming out of the bathroom and snatching the phone from Brandon.  “What do you want?” he growled into the receiver.

 

“Jude, I _guarantee_ you look fine!  Now get in the car with Brandon and Jesus and stop complaining!  And for God’s sake you better be smiling by the time I see you!  Remember that it’s your own fucking wedding!” Mariana shouted, hanging up.  Jude could feel the color draining from his face as Mariana yelled at him (he had never heard her quite that upset before), so once she hung up, he motioned for Jesus and Brandon to go, meekly shuffling out the door behind them.

 

 

Connor just sat, mouth hanging open, staring at Mariana who had just finished screaming at Jude over the phone.  Lena quickly appeared in the door, having heard the exchange (the whole house had), beckoning for Mariana to follow her out.

 

“Mariana, honey, you need to stop screaming at them. It’s their wedding day and they’re obviously both extremely nervous.  Have you already forgotten how nervous you were?” Lena asked.

 

“No, but I—“

 

“Then cut them some slack.  Just take care of them and let them be nervous.  I’m sure they would really appreciate that.” Lena continued, giving Mariana a pat on the back and pushing her back to where Connor stood waiting in the doorway.  Mariana smiled, waving for Connor to follow her, knowing that her tirade had the desired effect.

 

 

Jude paced back and forth, waiting in a little room off of the main hall where they were holding the ceremony, nervously wringing his hands.  Other than his earlier resistance, Mariana had told him that the day so far was going off without a hitch, which obviously was good, but didn’t make Jude any less anxious (and he still didn’t know why!).  And not seeing Connor all morning had only served to make things worse.  There was a soft knock on the door, breaking Jude from his thoughts.  He padded over, cracking the door open to find Connor standing on the other side.  He quickly yanked Connor in, shutting the door behind him and wrapping his arms around Connor and desperately pulling him in for a kiss.

 

“Thanks for sneaking over here,” Jude whispered, leaning his forehead against Connor’s, his anxiety already starting to melt away in Connor’s arms.

 

“You think I was going to go all morning without seeing you?” Connor grinned.  “Not a chance!”

 

“So are you nervous?”

 

“Not anymore.  You?” Connor replied.

 

“Not anymore,” Jude answered smiling.

 

“Hey Jude it’s—“ Stef began, stepping into the room.  They both turned to look at her but didn’t disentangle themselves.  “Connor, what are you doing here?” she interrogated.

 

“I just couldn’t stand it, I had to see him,” Connor responded sheepishly.

 

“Ahh, to be young and in love,” Stef sighed, a small smile forming on her face as she shook her head.  “Come on you two, we need to get you in position, it’s almost time.”  Stef walked back out, leaving the two of them along for a moment.

 

“Are you ready?” Jude asked, turning his attention back to Connor.

 

“I’m more than ready,” Connor answered, and with that, Jude’s heart completely burst and he leaned in, connecting their lips, smiling and laughing into the kiss, completely giddy and completely overwhelmed with love.  With great effort, he finally pulled away (but not completely disconnecting himself from Connor), the two of them following Stef out of the room to the back of the hall, taking their position side by side, ready to walk down the aisle.

 

The music started and they began walking slowly.  Connor’s eyes were watering and Jude was giggling, in complete contrast to each other but it was absolutely perfect.  Mariana had trailed in behind them, catching Stef and they moved to their seats.

 

“Why were the already together when they got in here?” she asked irritated.

 

“Because, love, I told you, you shouldn’t have tried to keep them apart,” Stef explained smiling.  “Connor snuck out of his room, and I found them clutching each other when I came in to get Jude.”

 

Mariana smiled, shaking her head at just how head over heels her brother and (soon to be) brother-in-law were for each other.  It really was a beautiful thing to her, and she had to actually fight the urge to give herself a physical pat on the back for being the one to make it all happen.

 

After a minute, the two of them reached the end of the aisle, stopping in front of the officiator.

 

“We are gathered here today—“ he began, though both of them were honestly only half listening, getting lost in each other’s eyes, so distracted in fact that they almost missed when it was time to give their vows!  But they quickly recovered, Jude launching into his first.  The had decided not to prepare anything, rather just to speak from the heart.

 

“I feel like this is the point where I should stand up and say something about how I’m not easy to deal with and you aren’t either but we both totally love each other anyway or something like that.  I mean that’s what my moms did, right?  And sure it’s true, but I just want to talk about how happy I am and how much I love you.  The last month has been a whirlwind Connor.  And crazy enough, it started, of all places, at a wedding.  That wedding was Mariana’s, and now we’re here having our own.  I thought that I was totally crazy when I had the idea to propose to you after two dates, but after this month I can say that I wasn’t thinking more clearly at that moment.  I’m totally and completely in love with you, and I have been for so long, longer than you can probably imagine.  We skirted around each other for so long, but we finally took the plunge and that’s why we get to be here today.  I’m so happy that today, I get to marry you and call you my husband for as long as we live.” Jude said giggling softly the whole time.  It was infectious because Connor began giggling with Jude, tears that had been falling since the ceremony began still rolling down his cheeks as he did.

 

“Okay, I guess it’s my turn,” Connor said when Jude finished, slipping a ring on Jude’s finger as he did (since Connor was already wearing his ring).  “Gonna try to make it through this without crying, but no guarantees.  Right now, standing here, I still can’t believe this actually happening.  I couldn’t believe it when I found out my best friend fell in love with me.  I couldn’t believe it when you kissed me at Mariana’s wedding.  I couldn’t believe it when you asked me on a date after.  I couldn’t believe it when you proposed to me.  None of this seems real, and yet it is, and that’s the best part of all.  That I fell in love with my best friend who loves me back, and now I get to stand up here and declare my love for you in front of everyone and promise to spend the rest of my life with you.  Because there’s nothing else I want to do except to wake up in your arms every morning and fall asleep with you every night.  To share every possible moment together with the man I love more than anything else in this world.  Pardon my language, but I love you so fucking much Jude Adams-Foster, and now, it’s my pleasure to become your husband.”

 

Connor finished, turning to the officiator and nodding his head to indicate that he was done.

 

“Now by the power vested in me by the state of California, I know pronounce you husband and husband.  You may now kiss,” he announced.  Jude practically leaped onto Connor, wrapping his arms around him and pressing his lips to Connor’s, kissing him for as long as he could manage without passing out from lack of air.

 

“I love you so fucking much too,” he whispered as he pulled away, removing his arms from around Connor and entwining their hands.

 

“And now it is my pleasure to introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mr. Adams-Foster-Stevens,” the officiator announced.  “It’s that a mouthful?”

 

“Well I already had one hyphen, what’s one more?” Jude joked.

 

“You forgot about me, I’m taking on two!” Connor protested.

 

“I think you’ll live,” Jude replied, smiling at his husband.

 

"You bet I will," Connor said smiling back.

 

 

The reception was perfect.  In fact, the whole day was perfect, but by and large it had nothing to do with the way the wedding was set up, or the reception, or even the food at the reception (shocking, right?).  It had everything to do with each other, but it never would’ve happened without Mariana.

 

“I don’t know how we can ever thank you,” Jude told her as they milled around, the reception winding down.

 

“You don’t have to thank me except by being happy together,” she replied.

 

“I think we can manage that,” Connor answered, laughing.

 

“Hey, who is that?” Jude asked, noting two people lying on the floor.

 

“Brandon and Tony,” Mariana said smirking.  “I gotta go.  Time to work my magic.”

 

Jude and Connor giggled, walking out of the hall, hand-in-hand, heading off on their honeymoon, ready to spend the rest of their lives together.


End file.
